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I'll be coming home this summer - but I'll be in Germany for the World Cup.
Will Iranian President Abugallawhosis be here too?
THE participation of Iran in the World Cup finals this summer is beginning to open up cracks in the West’s previously united front against the Tehran regime.If you're like me, you're shocked. I certainly had no idea that McCain was the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination before I read this story from the London Times.The Bush Administration is understood to be alarmed about the prospect of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the hardline President of Iran, attending the football tournament in Germany.
President Bush had been expected to raise the issue this week when he held talks with Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor. Neither American nor German officials would confirm that the subject had been discussed, with both sides declining to comment on a “very private meeting”.
A spokesman for the White House said: “The question about Ahmadinejad going to Germany is still very much up in the air. The President may have asked how Merkel intends to deal with it [but] this is a decision the German Government has got to make.”
Senator John McCain, the front-runner for the next Republican presidential nomination, recently tabled a congressional resolution calling for Iran to be thrown out of the World Cup as part of a sanctions package designed to halt its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
“The [Iranian] national team is scheduled to play its first match in Nuremberg, Germany,” Mr McCain said. “There is a cynical historical irony to this, in light of President Ahmadinejad’s vile statements denying the Holocaust and calling for Israel’s eradication.”
Now back to soccer. FIFA, the sport's governing body, will not expel Iran without a UN Security Council resolution. In other words, Iran has a better chance of winning the World Cup than they do of being banned.
But if he does come, Arugallah d'boogedyman may have to leave his bodyguard's behind:
German officials said that a country hosting the World Cup had to admit members of the team and the head of state. “Ahmadinejad has the right to come to Germany to attend the World Cup,” a German diplomat said. “But this only applies to the head of state. His entourage, his bodyguards and aides would all require visas to travel to Germany. So far we have had no signals that the Iranian President wants to come. We certainly have no intention of inviting him.”The US team will be here though:
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - The official team bus to be used by the United States during the World Cup will not bear a flag for security reasons.The story doesn't say just who is considered a security threat to the US team. Thousands of Americans live in Germany, and drive here every day. The AP does helpfully add that the bus is blue, for those who might be looking for it.The 32 official buses were presented Thursday in Frankfurt and the other 31 buses have large national flags of the their teams painted on rear sides.
German and U.S. security officials came to the conclusion to leave the flag off the U.S. team bus, an official of the German organizing committee said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the topic.
If you're wondering, the US and Iran will not likely meet in the World Cup. The earliest possible match between the two would be a semi-final.
